SHU explains short library hours on Saturdays

The library is an important feature on any college campus. The building provides a place for study and leisure, but the irregular weekend hours, at times, make needed study time difficult.

The usual library hours during week are Monday through Thursday from 8:00 a.m. to 2:00 a.m. and Friday from 8:00 a.m. to 12:00 a.m. However, it is during the weekend that the hours change: Saturday’s hours are from 9:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. and Sundays from 12:00 p.m. to 2:00 a.m.

Walsh Library closes at 5:00 p.m. on Saturdays despite being open later every other day of the week.Sarah Yenesel/Asst. Photography Editor

According to John Buschman, Dean of University Libraries, the hours are oriented around library traffic and tours.

“We shifted them to accommodate Admissions tours – which are temporarily housed in the 2nd floor of the library,” Dean Buschman wrote in an email. “We don’t have enough traffic (we’ve measured it) to justify the costs of adding staff to lengthen the hours on Saturday.”

Seton Hall University is known for slowing down over the weekend. Out of the freshman class alone, roughly 20 percent live off campus, according to the University website under “Seton Hall At-a-Glance.”

This number does not include upperclassmen and students who go home on the weekend, which is when the campus dies down.
Some students concur with Dean Buschman due to the weekend slump.

“Nobody is here on the weekends,” says Tanner Purcel, a freshman undecided major. “There is no reason to pay for someone to sit there if no one is in the library.”

Others are not so happy about the current schedule, such as D.J. Schuck, a sophomore political science major and peer adviser.

“I think the library’s very limited weekend hours send the wrong message about the school’s priorities,” he said. “The library should be open to encourage students to be consistently concentrating on their schoolwork. Especially on this campus where there isn’t a ton of places to hang out or study, the library should be a nice spot for students to use whenever they need it.”

However, the current situation is not permanent. Once the new Welcome Center is opened in the spring, tours will be moved from the library to the Welcome Center. As such, the library will reassess its hours.

“We’ve committed to re-looking at this when the Welcome Center opens (in March I think) and we won’t have Admissions considerations,” Buschman wrote in his email.

Buschman did not specify how the hours will change.

In the meantime, Dunkin Donuts maintains late hours on the weekend, closing at 1:00 a.m. on both Saturday and Sunday.
“Last, Dr. Gottlieb [Vice President of Student Services] and I worked hard to expand Dunkin Donuts’ hours to provide a safe space after hours,” Buschman wrote.

Library hours have already begun the 24/7 schedule for finals and will continue to be so until 11:00 p.m. Tuesday, December 19, 2017.